Study on the Law of Peace and Children’s Human Rights

Why are children mostly unqualified in peacemaking? And how might this be transformed?

About the Study

International human rights law qualifies children's standing as subjects of human rights. Yet children are mostly unqualified in peacemaking.

The seeming disconnect between law and practice raises a multiplicity of questions: Is it justified from the perspective of the law of peace? May children’s human rights yield to the legitimate aim of pursuing peace? And if not, why are children mostly unqualified in peace agreements? And how might this be transformed? In this Study, Sarah M Field explores these questions. In doing so she examines the complex and evolving interrelations between the laws of peace and international human rights, yields overlapping legal and political opportunities for giving effect to children’s rights in peacemaking and develops suppositions as to why children are mostly unqualified in peacemaking.

The staged findings offer a beacon for responding to the complex child rights challenges yielded by the fragile and mutable process of peacemaking.

At its core, Sarah argues this begins by taking legal and other measures to qualify or officially recognise children’s presence (and ultimately also children’s agency) in the staged process. In conjunction with bringing children into being in peacemaking, it supports the parties to comply with their broader human rights obligations and commitments. In conclusion, Sarah imagines a framework of evolving legal and other measures for qualifying children’s presence (and ultimately also children’s agency) in peacemaking — inspired by children’s views and emerging practice.

Sharing to Inspire New Ways of Acting

Cover Picture:João Marques (13) #Kids4HumanRights. International Drawing Competition to Celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Declaration of Human Rights (The Gabarron Foundation and United Nations Office of the High Commission for Human Rights, 2018).